EU states must respect ICC warrants: Borrell
Josep Borrell has also addressed the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, saying EU states must respect the ruling whether they “like it or not”.
“This is not something you can pick and choose,” said Borrell. “You cannot applaud when the court goes against Putin and remain silent when the court goes against Netanyahu.
“I ask members of the European Union to fulfil their obligations under international law,” he added. “If the Europeans don’t support the ICC, then there will not be any hope for justice.”
G7 to ‘comply with respective obligations’ over Netanyahu ICC warrant
G7 foreign ministers say they “will comply with our respective obligations” regarding the arrest warrant for Netanyahu issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“We reiterate our commitment to International Humanitarian Law and will comply with our respective obligations”, the ministers said in a joint statement issued following two days of talks near Rome.
The Group of Seven industrialised nations brings together Canada, Germany, France, host Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
I doubt the US will comply...
When it comes to Netanyahu arrest warrant, ‘credibility of the West on the line’
There is a structural difference and divide within the G7 that has meant a united front cannot be achieved when it comes to the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Nathalie Tocci, director of the Institute of International Affairs in Italy.
“Six of those countries are mandated to arrest the indicted individuals [but] the US is not bound to do so. It’s understandable that the seven would want to maintain a united front, but there’s a real danger that in order to do so, what would happen is a dilution – if not a suspension in a sense – of the six in order to converge towards the one,” she told Al Jazeera.
Tocci added this is dangerous because of the current political climate where multilateralism and international law are being shattered, and “the credibility of the West is on the line because we can’t say with a straight face that we stand behind the arrest warrants of the ICC vis-a-vis Vladimir Putin, but we will not stand with the ICC when it comes to Israeli leaders”.
Many ‘legal doubts’ about ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu: Italy
There are many legal doubts about the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Italy’s foreign minister says.
“[There are] many legal doubts and feasibility seems to me very theoretical because Netanyahu will never go to a country where he can be arrested,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told a news conference after a meeting with his G7 counterparts.
Well go there and arrest him then... Or you know, sanctions, no more weapon shipments to start with.
